This project is restoring our faith in humanity—even as we type this.
The US-based children of Constancia Cruz is trying to raise US$157,000 on fund-raising website Gofundme.com to bring back her dead body from South Korea to Lakewood, California. And people are responding generously,
“On February 19, 2014, my mom Constancia Cruz collapsed in Seoul International Airport while waiting for a flight home from the Philippines to California. She was immediately rushed to the local hospital and diagnosed with septic shock, a serious condition that severely impacted her vital organs….multiple treatments were administered, including cardiac bypass surgery, hemodialysis, and respiratory support.”
After 76 days in Intensive Care—and over a $150,000 in hospital bills—her health deteroriated. She died on April 28, surrounded by her husband of 50 years and two of five children.
Constancia was born in Orion, Bataan, when her town was controlled by Japanese soldiers; the eldest of nine children and the first in her family to attend college. “Nanay was a respected teacher and school administrator for two decades, using education as a tool to improve the community,” recalls daughter Anna Marie. “She had a heart for the poor because she herself was from poverty.”
Now that she’s dead, money problems still haunt her. “Even with medical insurance coverage, nothing could have prepared our family for complications of international emergency care,” daughter Amanda writes on Gofundme.com.
Despite already paying US$90,000 up front, the family still owes the hospital US$157,000 to bring Constancia Cruz’s body back to the US. “We have contacted the US Embassy,” who told us they cannot help,” she adds.
So far, the family’s fundraiser, entitled “Bring Mom Home For Mother’s Day,” has been shared 1.3k times as of this writing, and raised US$38,709.
Constancia Cruz’s family has asked the generous souls contributing money to leave comments on why their mom means the world to them.
“My mom had a total of six incredible children with my father, but raised five of us on her own when he suddenly had to leave the Philippines. She was an AMAZING woman. Bright, witty, creative, and so incredibly determined. She even managed to move her five ducklings to the United States to re-unite us with my dad and provide us with better opportunities,” recalls Anna Marie.
Photo from Gofundme.com (Constancia Cruz, left, with a childhood friend)
